“I hope the folks who were so quick to jump on the city of Marietta via social media will now realize the city was always working to let Ajax stay with Mr. Hickey”, Marietta Mayor Joe Matthews told NBC affiliate WCMH. On Monday, officials said they believed they found a solution in offering an unpaid auxiliary position to Hickey, which would allow him to keep Ajax at no charge.
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When he retired, Hickey was told he couldn’t purchase the dog because it was property and the dog would be auctioned.
On Monday, Marietta Police Chief Rodney Hupp announced the department had offered an auxiliary officer position to Hickey, which would allow the retired cop to keep his dog.
(CNN) – In Marietta, Ohio, last night, retired police officer Matthew Hickey paid $1 and took his beloved K-9 partner home for the last time.
A retired OH police officer purchased his K-9 partner for $1 thanks to community support amid fears that the dog would be auctioned off, officials said Thursday.
But after a compromise suggested by the city that would allow Hickey to keep Ajax if he worked as a volunteer was declined by Hickey, the city allowed him to buy Ajax for less than a cup of coffee, a single dollar. Ajax can likely work for another five or six years, according to the police statement.
He said that under Ohio Revised Code Section 9.62, if a canine unit is disbanded, the canine may be purchased for $1 by the law enforcement officer who was assigned to it. Bertam wrote that there is no technical definition of “canine unit” in the Revised Code. As of Friday, the GoFundMe page raised over $72,000.
Hickey says he’s “speechless and very grateful” that he gets to keep Ajax. “I’m so thankful and relieved”, Hickey tells nbc4i.com. But since the money doesn’t seem to be necessary at this moment, Hickey promised to donate the left over money to a K-9 charity that buys bulletproof vests for dogs.
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Yet Mr Hickey has said he does not want to be an auxiliary officer. Out of the almost 3,000 donors, some are from as far as Australia and the United Kingdom.
